Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust is one of 10 NHS trusts in England consistently reporting critical care beds at full capacity, according to the latest figures.

NHS data from December 31 until January 10 shows Harrogate District Hospital’s critical care ward is full.

The hospital’s base critical care capacity is seven beds but this can ‘flex’ to 10 and beyond, trust chief executive Steve Russell told the Stray Ferret in November.

It utilised 11 beds on January 6 and January 9 and although the number has fluctuated it has not dropped below eight this year.

The number of critical care beds in Harrogate is nowhere near as high as it is for many hospitals in larger towns and cities.

Nevertheless, the analysis by the BBC names it as one of 10 trusts out of 140 with consistently full critical care beds.

An NHS spokesperson told the Stray Ferret:

“Critical care services in the NHS are under unprecedented pressure, which is why we’ve increased capacity significantly to continue to provide care.

“Hospitals continue to work to increase their capacity to help patients with covid and other conditions but ultimately it is essential the public continues to follow the ‘hands, face, space’ guidance to prevent the spread of coronavirus, reduce the number of people who need hospital care and ultimately save lives.”

The total number of available critical care beds in England on January 10 was 5,503, with 4,632 occupied.

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Harrogate District Hospital reported it had 47 coronavirus patients on January 14.

The increase in coronavirus patients prompted the hospital to announce last week it had decided to postpone some non-emergency surgeries to free up space and staff.

Tim Gold, the chief operating officer at the trust, said:

“Clearly, this past week has seen a very significant increase of people needing inpatient care.

“This is placing a significant strain on services at the trust.

“In response to rising numbers we are increasing the number of beds available for patients with covid on wards and in critical care.

“We will be continuing to provide urgent and cancer care during this time.”